Tuesday, June 09, 2009

Get Well Soon, Heidi!

I don't know how you feel about torture, but I think it's bad. There, I've said it. Now I feel that we can have a more full and informed discussion about Heidi Pratt and the ordeal she suffered on the television show "I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here!" Ms. Pratt was hospitalized in Costa Rica this weekend for a stomach infection after she and her husband, Spencer, were sent to an isolation chamber as part of the competition. Her sister-in-law reported that she was suffering from a gastric ulcer. "She thought she was dying."Again, Heidi's sister-in-law: "They treated them like they were criminals or terrorists." Heidi and her husband were sent to the "Lost Chamber" after spending the first week trying to get off the show. The couple agreed to the punishment once they decided that they really did want to get back on the show. Depending on which account of the suffering you are to believe, the pair were either "locked in a dark room for three days w no food" and had bugs lowered in through the roof and onto the couple in the pitch black, or they spent fourteen hours in the chamber during which they slept most of the time, with food and water and emerged from the chamber in good spirits. Guess which version is the sister-in-law's and which is the production company's.Okay. How was this torture? Did it cause agony or pain? Was it punishment for an act she or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed? In reality TV, it's really hard to get a sense of just who is being tortured, but if that's the letter of the law, then the Pratts were tortured.Why did they sign on to a show that is obviously so rooted in abuse? It's not called "Hey, I'm Really Looking Forward To The Daiquiris And Tapas." I imagine that there are a lot of detainees in Guantanamo who might like to audition for that one. And what about poor, tortured Heidi? She checked out of the hospital on Sunday and is now recovering in a hotel in Costa Rica. One can assume that it is a very nice hotel. With light switches she can control, and the bugs are mostly underfoot.